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After having hit
by setbacks in the over decade-old programme, the BVRAAM was successfully
tested at a naval range in the western sector. The sequence was captured by the
forward and side looking high-speed cameras with the Defence Research
Development Organisation (DRDO) claiming that the launch met "all the
mission objectives" and the separation was exactly as per the simulation.

Astra is India's
first BVRAAM indigenously designed and developed by the DRDO, which it said
possesses high single shot kill probability and makes it highly reliable. Astra
is an all-weather missile with active radar terminal guidance, ECCM features,
smokeless propulsion and process improved effectiveness in multi-target
scenario making it a highly advanced, state-of the-art missile, the DRDO said
in a statement.

Congratulating the
team for the success, DRDO Director-General Avinash Chander said: "Astra's
successful launch from the Su30 combat aircraft is a major step in the missile
aircraft integration. Extensive flight testing that has preceded today's air
launch was indeed a joint effort of DRDO and IAF. This will be followed by
launch against actual target shortly. Many more trials are planned and will be
conducted to clear the launch envelope. Weapon integration with 'Tejas' Light
Combat Aircraft will also be done in the near future."

The project saw a
Su-30 modified by Hindustan Aeronautics along with IAF with Indian industry
joining hands in the production of reliable avionics, propulsion system,
materials, airframe and software, each of which had to pass stringent
airworthiness requirement for the missile.

Top scientists
associated with the project including Director General (MSS) V G Sekaran, DRDL
Director S Som, his predecessor P Venugopalan and GD (Aeronautics) K Tamilmani
who oversaw the flight safety in the programme hailed the quality of
integration and performance.

The missiles
underwent rigorous testing on Su30 in the captive mode for avionics integration
and Seeker evaluation in 2013.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140505/nation.htm#8

Desert drill puts to test Army’s fighting
skills

Our Correspondent

Abohar, May 4

Lt General Arun
Kumar Sahni, GOC-in-C (Army Commander), South Western Command, today reviewed
the “Sarvada Vijay” exercise in West Rajasthan. The Army Commander was briefed
by Lt General Ravi Thodge, Corps Commander, Strike Corps, on the training
aspects.

“Sarvada Vijay” is being
conducted as part of regular training where a large Army formation is
practising and honing war fighting skills braving 45 °C heat and dust storms.
Composite infantry and mechanised forces practised swift maneuvers deep into
“enemy” territory and got linked up with airborne troops.

Central security
agencies have claimed that Pakistan’s ISI had plans to carry out terror attacks
on two foreign consulates in India with evidence for this reportedly given by a
Sri Lankan national, arrested from Chennai, during his interrogation.

Official sources
claimed today that Sakir Hussain, a Sri Lankan national, told his interrogators
that he had been hired allegedly by an official in the Pakistani High
Commission in Colombo according to the alleged ISI plans to conduct
reconnaissance of the US Consulate in Chennai and Israeli Consulate in
Bengaluru.

Hussain was
arrested on April 29 in a coordinated operation involving various countries
including a South-East Asian nation.

He is reported to
have told the interrogators that the Pakistan spy agency was planning to send
two men from the Maldives to Chennai and that he had to arrange their travel
documents and hideouts.

Hussain's name
cropped up during an investigation in a South-East Asian country which tipped a
central security agency in India about possible attacks on US and Israeli
consulates, the sources said. — PTI

'We want to
strictly follow all the procedures before taking any final decision on the
issue', Defence minister AK Antony had said on Friday.

The Election
Commission on Saturday said it will consider the issue of the appointment of
the next Army chief at a meeting of its top brass next week.

“We have received a reference
from the Defence Ministry and the issue is under examination. But no decision
has been taken so far. The matter has so far not been placed on the agenda of
the ‘full commission’ (the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election
Commissioners),” a senior EC official told PTI here.

“The meeting could take place
on Monday or Tuesday where the matter would be considered,” the official said.

The poll panel will consider
the matter in the light of its March 27 order that appointments, promotions,
tenders and procurements of defence forces are not covered under the Model Code
of Conduct in the ongoing elections as well as any other election in the future
as well as complaints from BJP that thegovernment was rushing with the appointment of the next Chief of Army
Staff.

Amid strong opposition by the
BJP to the appointment of the next Army chief, the Government had referred the
matter to the Election Commission saying any decision will be taken only after
getting its nod.

“The matter is before the
Election Commission. We want to strictly follow all the procedures before
taking any final decision on the issue,” Defence Minister AK Antony had said on
Friday when asked about the status of appointing the next Army chief.

The matter was sent to the EC
by the Defence Ministry earlier this week though the poll panel has already
said that appointments, promotions, tenders and procurements are not covered
under the Model Code of Conduct in the ongoing elections as well as any other
election in the future.

On why the Ministry has sent
the matter to the Election Commission despite its March 27 order, highly-placed
Defence Ministry sources said such matters are important and it was felt that
nod of all authorities concerned should be taken before proceeding.

The BJP has been opposing the
appointment of the next Army chief by the UPA Government, arguing that there
was no hurry to do so and the matter should be left to the next government.

Army Vice Chief Lt Gen Dalbir
Singh Suhag is the front-runner for appointment to the top post which will fall
vacant on July 31 after the retirement of present Army chief Gen Bikram Singh.

The EC official also said the
panel has not received any reference from the government on the snoopgate
commission of inquiry.

South Western Army
Commander reviews conduct of wargame exercise in Hanumangarh

South Western Army
Commander Lt Gen Arun Kumar Sahni on Sunday reviewed the conduct of wargame
exercise "Sarvada Vijay" (Always Victorious), underway in border
district of Hanumangarh in Rajasthan. Sahani was briefed by Lt Gen Ravi Thodge,
Corps Commander of Mathura-based Strike Corps, on the training aspects.

The exercise is
being conducted as part of regular training where a large Army formation is
practicing and honing war fighting skills, defence spokesperson S D Goswami
said. More than 20,000 troops, over 200 tanks and armoured personnel carrier
are taking part in wargames being held close to the border with Pakistan.

The Mathura-based
1 Strike Corps and its elements are taking part in the exercise and are
practising the war-fighting concepts of the force. The 1 Strike Corps is an
important formation of the Army and would be tasked to carry out strikes deep
inside enemy territory in case of a war. Over two days with the Strike Corps,
the Army Commander of Jaipur-headquartered South Western Command reviewed
complex and integrated operational manoeuvres of the formation.

Synergy between
Army and Air Force in launching coordinated air-land battle and the ability to
orchestrate battle in network centric environment were successfully validated
in the exercise which began few days ago.

They protect us
from cross-border intruders, and soon they could be protecting the big cats
from the poachers. The Indian Army would be keeping an eye on tigers in
sensitive border areas of the country as the National Tiger Conservation
Authori ty (NTCA) has approached the Ministry of Defence (MoD) seeking help in
saving the cats by monitoring their movements using drones and CCTV cameras
near high security zones, including those close to the Indo-China border.

The move comes
after the NTCA, a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests,
was denied permission by the MoD to carry out surveillance of tiger reserves
using drones in areas near international borders and places housing defence
installations and ammunition depots.

The tiger conservation
authority is in the process of using drones, CCTVs and virtual fence to monitor
movement of tigers in and around reserves. The advanced technology will provide
virtual access to difficult terrains and dense forests in tiger reserves, which
forest guards do not have access to. There are 44 tiger reserves in the
country.

The NTCA took up
the matter with the MoD, asking the armed forces to help in tiger monitoring at
places where forest officers won’t be allowed to fly drones. After initial
discussions with senior defence ministry officials, the NTCA was asked to send
a detailed proposal.

“We are preparing a formal
proposal which will be sent to the defence ministry by June. We have asked them
if their men can fly the drones and collect information regularly in sensitive
areas. They can inform the forest officers immediately if they have any
suspicion or see human movement inside the core areas,” said a senior NTCA
official.

The proposal will describe the
kind of training and resources that will be required for the army men to handle
equipment and perform the task. NTCA will also provide a list of tiger reserves
in the country so that the defence ministry can mark areas which are sensitive
and will be managed by its men.

“The defence ministry had earlier
objected to drone trials in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, where a large
number of one-horned rhinoceroses were killed by poachers last year. The
ministry did not give us permission on security grounds,” said the official.

The drone trials are now being
done at the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and the results of initial
trials have been very encouraging.

Satisfied with the initial
trails in Panna and the ongoing ‘Virtual Eye’ project in Corbett Tiger Reserve,
the tiger conservation authority wants to replicate it in other places, but
security clearance remains a major hurdle and the process takes months in some
cases.

Drone trials are also being
planned in either Corbett or Dudhwa tiger reserve in northern India and
Sathyamangalam or Mudumalai tiger reserves in southern India in the months
ahead.

Facing shortage of forest
guards to man vast areas of tiger reserves and other protected sites, the NTCA
is banking upon technology to save the big cats in India, which is home to the
largest number of tigers in the world.

According to 2010 tiger
census, there are 1,706 tigers in the wild and a big threat of poaching looms
over them due to high demand of tiger parts in the international market. In
2013, 67 tiger deaths were reported while till now (April 19) this year, 22
tigers have died of various reasons. The NTCA is in the process of counting
tigers and the census is expected to be out by December this year.